Answering The Call
The following story originally appeared in the 2019 edition of the School of Engineering and Computer Science's Synergy magazine. Click here for the complete article.
Paul Ro, Ph.D., Chair and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, wasn’t seeking a life-altering change when he first discovered the position he now holds. After 29 years in teaching and leadership at North Carolina State University (NCSU), whose faculty he joined a mere 48 hours after his PhD dissertation defense at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it would require something special to pry him from the community that had become home for him and his family.
It didn’t take long to realize that Baylor and the School of Engineering and Computer Science indeed provided that special opportunity at a place he describes as the “perfect convergence of my professional and spiritual training.”
“At Baylor, I see a place where engineers are engaged in mission work in fusion of ministry and education,” Ro says. “From everyone here, I feel on a daily basis a sense of mission, service and sacrifice. There’s a camaraderie of people coming together under God, having the same life scope and similar missions, in a very special and unique environment."
As Mechanical Engineering chair, Ro is focused on four concrete goals, which shape Ro’s priorities going forward: to triple the number of Ph.D. students in seven years, quadruple research expenditures in that time, grow the faculty from 10 to 19 and to add professors that bring expertise in niche areas from other universities. The fulfillment of these goals would dramatically enhance student opportunities in Mechanical Engineering, as well as grow the program’s influence and contributions to the field’s larger body of knowledge. Additionally, they would propel the University towards tier-one research status (R1).
“These are big goals, and I pray for God’s blessing as we pursue them,” Ro says. “But I know we can achieve them. This University can achieve R1 status. Baylor being who we are, we need to grow in these areas. Doing so, in Mechanical Engineering and across campus, will add greatly to the University mission.”